Ryan Reaves

Rangers’ Ryan Reaves practice’s with the team, return to lineup remains uncertain

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New York Rangers’ Ryan Reaves was on the ice with his teammates at practice on Monday, but his return to the lineup is still unknown.

Ryan Reaves has become an integral part of the New York Rangers lineup. He tries to be the ultimate team player every time he is with his teammates.

Case in point, last Monday night in a game against the Calgary Flames. Reaves suffered a lower-body injury early in the game, but instead of retiring to the locker room as most athletes would do, he insisted to stay on the bench to support his team.

Currently, on the injured reserve list, Reaves returned to practice in Vancouver Monday wearing an orange non-contact jersey. Looking to help his team in any way he can, and is unable to fully participate in the practice, Reaves played the role of the opponent using his stick to disrupt the play.

“I was happy to see him out there skating today,” head coach Gerard Gallant said per Mollie Walker of the New Yokr Post. “He lasted most of the practice, so that’s a good sign. Yesterday I was a little concerned, but he looked a lot better. I don’t know when he’s going to play, but it was a step in the right direction.”

Gallant went on to say,

“Reavo is one of our leaders, he’s a guy that came to this team and he makes us a more aggressive team and he’s a character in the dressing room, the guys really like him. He wants to be out there. We tell him, ‘Make sure you’re ready to go.’ I thought today he looked much better than he did yesterday. So that’s a positive for us and our group.”

Reaves Brings His ‘A’ Game

Reaves has fit in seamlessly with the club since his first practice. He has been seen working with the younger players on the team with their positioning on the ice and even added a little of his own flair by showing players the “physical side” of playing in the NHL.

How much do his teammates appreciate the energy Reaves brings to the ice? Look no more than his pregame ritual where he releases the Rangers to the ice.

At time’s new players to a team don’t have the personality to enter a locker room and make it their own, but for Reaves, it was the opposite.

He came to the Rangers as the ultimate team player.

His enthusiasm is infectious through the lineup. Head coach Gallant looks to get him back in the lineup as soon as possible but until then Reaves will do whatever he can to help his team win.

The Rangers play the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday night. The game can be seen at 10 p.m. on MSG Networks.

Rangers’ loss in Washington displays team’s inefficiencies on the ice and behind the bench

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The New York Rangers’ loss to the Capitals on Wednesday night confirms that this team has plenty of work ahead of them, on the ice and behind the bench.

The New York Rangers began their 2021-2022 season with a 5-1 loss to the Washington Capitals. It is only one loss, game one of 82 on the schedule, but there were some familiarities to last season the club needs to get away from if they want to put together wins.

Georgiev Gets The Start

The lineup was questioned almost immediately when Alexandar Georgiev led the team onto the ice.  Why was Igor Shesterkin sitting for the first game of the season? Did the back-to-back schedule of games having the team in Washington on Wednesday and then playing their home opener on Thursday play that big of a factor in this decision?

Gerard Gallant was asked about his decision in his post-game presser and really didn’t have a concrete answer as to why he went with Georgiev telling Vince Mercogliano,

“No, not really. Obviously, we’ve got back-to-back games and I think Georgie played real well. I don’t think there’s any issue with the goals with Georgie.”

Georgiev made some good saves, but overalled seemed to struggle at times.  The Rangers gave up two goals in 24 seconds in the second period giving the Capitals a 3-0 lead at the time.  That third goal is one Georgiev would definitely want back. It once again showed that he needs to find a way to make the big save that can stop the opposition’s momentum.

Georgiev made 22 saves on 27 shots in the game taking the loss.

Unusual Lineup

An opening night lineup that saw rookie Nils Lunkvist watching the game, and Jared Tinordi lacing up his skates for the game was a direct result of the club being concerned about the rough style of game that was anticipated to have. This team already had a hard-hitting Sammy Blais and Ryan Reaves penciled in to play, why sit Lundkvist then?

The bottom six of the team’s lineup had Filip Chytil centering Sammy Blais and Barclay Goodrow and Kevin Rooney in the middle of Ryan Reaves and Dryden Hunt.

Other than some big hits, neither line produced many scoring chances.

The Rangers scored just one goal, on the power play, by Chris Kreider in the third period.  The special teams were a thorn in the team’s backside throughout the game.

The team took nine penalties allowing four power-play goals. With the man advantage, the Blueshirts managed just one goal in eight opportunities.

This is an area the club had relied on to improve in the offseason, but it is apparently more work is needed to be done.

A New Day

Tonight the Rangers will be back on the ice again, this time at Madison Square Garden. Their home opener welcomes the Dallas Stars and hopefully a better outcome than on Wednesday night.

Gallant has already announced the Igor Shesterkin will be in the net and one could assume that the head coach will insert Lundkvist and forward Julien Gauthier into the lineup in hopes of generating some more offense.

It may be early in the season but this team needs to find its identity early and get some good line chemistry with the tough schedule the team has ahead of them. The Blueshirts only have two home games, after tonight’s game, in the next 10 games.

This team needs to do everything it can not to fall into the quicksand and find ways to keep even with the rest of the league and division.

Rangers add toughness, sign Ryan Reaves in trade with Vegas Golden Knights

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New York Rangers President and General Manager Chris Drury announced today that the team has acquired forward Ryan Reaves from the Vegas Golden Knights in exchange for a third-round pick in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft.

The New York Rangers solved their lack of toughness and grit when they traded for Ryan Reaves from the Vegas  Golden Knights on Thursday night. The Blueshirts sent a third-round pick in the 2022 NHL Draft for the 34-year old forward.

Reaves skated in 37 games with Vegas this past season, registering one goal and four assists for five points, along with 27 penalty minutes. He led the NHL (min. 20 games played) in hits per 60 minutes of ice time in 2020-21 (23.02), and he also led the Golden Knights in hits (141) this past season. Reaves skated in 12 games during the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs while helping the Golden Knights advance to the Semifinals.

The 6-2, 225-pounder has skated in 686 career NHL games over parts of 11 seasons (2010-11 – 2020-21) with St. Louis, Pittsburgh, and Vegas, registering 49 goals and 52 assists for 101 points, along with 937 penalty minutes. Since the start of his first NHL season in 2010-11, Reaves ranks third in the NHL in hits (2,322), ranks seventh in the NHL in major penalties (75), and ranks eighth in the league in penalty minutes. He has averaged at least 20 hits per 60 minutes of ice time in each of his 11 NHL seasons, and he led the NHL in hits in back-to-back seasons in 2018-19 (305) and 2019-20 (316). Reaves has helped his team advance to the Stanley Cup Playoffs in each of the last 10 seasons, and he has skated in 84 postseason games in his NHL career. He helped Vegas advance to the Stanley Cup Final in 2017-18, and he also helped the Golden Knights advance to at least the third round of the playoffs in three of his four seasons with the team. Reaves was coached by current Rangers head coach Gerard Gallant for parts of three seasons with Vegas (2017-18 – 2019-20). (per NYR PR Department).

The Winnipeg, Manitoba native was originally selected by St. Louis in the fifth round, 156th overall, of the 2005 NHL Entry Draft.

Reaves has one year remaining on his contract with an AAV of $1.75 million. He will be a UFA at the conclusion of the next season.